On 8 Mar 2014, a subject in a Singapore-registered vehicle arriving from Malaysia cleared the immigration channel at 3.53PM, and whilst undergoing secondary checks at 4.02PM, deliberately drove off. The alarm and security barrier were immediately activated.  An Auxiliary Police Officer (APO) was injured when he attempted to stop the vehicle.  When the vehicle hit the barrier, the subject continued to step on the accelerator of the vehicle.  He managed to drive over the barrier and left the checkpoint at about 4.05pm. The front left and right tyres of the vehicle were punctured by the barrier, and the back passenger-side window on the right was also smashed by another APO in the process. 

 

2          ICA and Police worked closely in the follow-up to the incident to track down the subject and persons associated with him. As the subject had already cleared immigration, the identity of the subject and the vehicle registration number were quickly established and disseminated to the Police. All ICA’s Checkpoints were alerted to look out for the subject and the vehicle.  

 

3          Police was notified of the incident the moment the alarm was activated at the checkpoint. Police responded immediately by issuing an island-wide look-out message to all police ground resources to look out for the subject and his vehicle. Police worked closely with ICA and other Home Team agencies to find out more about the subject and those who could be involved with or could have assisted him. Dedicated resources, including officers from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Police Intelligence Department (PID), were also despatched for an island-wide search to locate his whereabouts. Alert messages were sent to all taxi companies to enlist their help to look-out for the vehicle too. Police chased leads across the island. While Police managed to contact the subject on his mobile phone, he sought to evade checks and arrest by driving across various parts of Singapore and switching to another vehicle Police also made contact with the subject and his family, and were able to successfully identify his associates.

 

4          At 8.30PM, Police recovered the vehicle, a gold-coloured Mercedes Benz sedan, and at 9.15 PM, arrested the subject, a 64-year old male Singapore Permanent Resident to assist in investigations. 

 

5          In the course of tracking the subject, Police’s investigations also identified four other male persons believed to be associated with the subject. All four are currently assisting the authorities in the investigation. Two of them, both Malaysians, were stopped from leaving Singapore at the Woodlands Checkpoint. Another two Singaporeans were picked up shortly after the arrest of the subject. A package suspected to contain drugs was also recovered. CNB has sent the package for further tests, and are investigating into the case.

 

6          The subject will be charged in Court in the morning of 10 March 2014 (Monday).

 

IMMIGRATION & CHECKPOINTS AUTHORITY

SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE

 

9 MARCH 2014

Annex A

 

Timeline

3.53PM

Subject sought arrival immigration clearance and then proceeded to secondary check area.

 

4.02PM

Subject was at secondary check area.

 

4.03-4.05PM

Subject drove over the crash barrier and left Checkpoint.

 

8.30PM

Vehicle recovered by Police

 

9.15PM

Subject arrested

 

 

Annex B

 

 

Figure 1: Side View of Security Barrier (Cat Claws)

Source: ICA

Figure 2: Front View of Security Barrier (Cat Claws)

 

Source: ICA